Treatment of textile materials



oct. 2o, 1942. F, B, H ET AL 2,299,145

TREATMENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed June 26, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ///4 Y/ s \\\\\\\\\L` 0d.'- 20, 1942- F. B. HILL ET AL TREATMENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed June 26, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MW. ALF-ORD T :r'AcKsoN 'ms 1 MM Patented 20, 1942 Frank Brentnall Hill, Maitland Walton Alford, 'and Thomas Jackson, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application June ze, 1940, serial No. 342,494 In Great Britain July 31, 1939 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the treatment of textile materials, particularly to treatments in which material passes through an orifice in a wall of a treatment vessel.

According to the present invention, an orice device providing a passage of variable area is formed by mounting two members each formed with an aperture in such a manner that by relative sliding of the members the apertures may be caused to overlap each other to different amounts, means being provided to cause a relativ'e movement between the two members to vary the area of the oriiice formed by the overlapping apertures. For example, one member may be fixed and the other movable and the movement of the movable member controlled by a micrometer screw deviceso as to control accurately the size of the orifice formed at any given position of the two members.

'I'he orice of variable area enables textile materials of different cross-sectional area to -be accommodated and at the same time cuts down the free area through which fluid might escape from a vessel in which the materials are treated. In general, textile threads are of substantially circular cross-section, and the shapes of the apertures in the two members is preferably such that'the orice has a near approximation to the circular in its several adjusted positionsl Thus4 the apertures in the two members may be in the form of elongated holes having substan- I tially semi-circular ends of 'difi'erent radii (the aperture thus being approximately pear-shaped) so thatwhen the two members are assembled with the smaller ends'of the'holes pointing in opposite directions an orifice f substantially circular cross-section can be formed at the junc-v tion of the two members, which orifice can be varied, by movement of one member relative to the other in the direction of the length of the holes, from a diameter substantially equal to twice the radius of the large end of the hole to a diameter substantially equal to twice the radius of the small end of the hole; or the apertures in the members may be notches, for example V-shaped notches with semi-circular apices, formed in the end of each member, in which case the two members are assembled with the apices of the notches pointing in opposite directions so that an oriiice can be formed at the junctionv ofthe two members which orifice can be varied, by movement of one member relative to the other in the direction of the depth of the notch, from a substantially circular cross-section of' a radius corresponding to the radius of the 3 ment chamber.

apex of the notch to a larger orice of approximately elliptical shape.

Instead of the two members being provided each with a hole or each with a notch, one member may be provided with a hole and other with a notch of the kind already described.

The invention is particularly applicable to the treatment of filaments, yarns and other materials with fluid mediaunder pressure, -as described for example, in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,142,717, 2,142,721, and 2,142,722. According to these specications, filaments. yarns or other materials are subjected to stretching or other treatments in the presence of fluid media under pressure in an apparatus comprising a substantially closed chamber for the, uid media, the chamber being provided with orices for the passage cf the material through the apparatus. With such apparatus, if the fluid medium in the treating chamber is under a high pressure, there may be a considerable flow of fluid into the atmosphere through the orifices through which the material passes. U. S. Patents Nos. 2,142,909 and 2,142,910, describe apparatus for carrying out such treatments in winch, in addition to the treatment chamber containing fluid medium under pressure, there is providedone or two end chambers for inert fluid under pressure communicating by means of orices with the treat- 'I'he provision of an end chamloer containing an inert fluid under pressure reduces or prevents the flow of fluid medium through the orince between this chamber and the treatment chamber, but there still exists a body of inert iluid under pressure in the end chamber lwhich communicates with the atmosphere through an orifice through which the material passes, and if the pressure is high there may be a considerable flow of uid into the atmosphere 4,0 through this riflce.

By applying the present invention to such processes and apparatus this undesirable ilow of fluid from the apparatus may be considerably reduced with the result that a considerable quam' 4,5 'tity of fiuidthatwould otherwise be wasted as saved.- Furthermore' the expression of a considerable quantity of uld ninto an atmosphere in which operatives have to work-may be detrimental to the convenience and health of the 0peratives.

tioned specifications in which the materials are stretched during their passage through a substantially closed treating chamber containing a treating medium underpressure. When the material is threaded through the apparatus before the stretching treatment is commenced, the orices must be large enough to allow free threading of the unstretched material. During stretching, the material undergoes a substantial reduction in cross-sectional area, so that the area of orifice necessary for threading is greater than that necessary for the passage of the stretched yarn by an amount depending on the degree of stretch, with the result that a considerable quantity of iluid may pass through the orice with the yarn into the atmosphere.

` justable stop I3.

The plate 1 is pierced by a pear-shaped aperture I4 having its enlarged end downwards, and a similar aperture I5 in the sliding plate Il has its enlarged end upwards. 'I'he diameter oi the enlarged ends corresponds to the diameter of On the other hand, in processes of stretching yarnsfor other materials employing the present invention, for example a process for stretching yarns consisting of cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose, the yarns are ilrst threaded through oritlces in the treating chamber, pressure is then applied to the treating medium in the chamber, the stretching treatment commenced and, as the cross-section of the yarns diminishes as a result of stretching the yarns, the area of the crices through which the stretched yarns passinto the atmosphere is reduced. The present invention is particularly applicable to such treatments when a number of yarns consisting oi continuous articial filaments are combined to form a bundle oi filaments of a total denier of the order of a sliver before passing through the oriilce into the atmosphere. The ratio between the maximum and the minimum areas obtainable in any given oriilce according to the-invention for use in stretching depends on the degree of stretch required to be imparted to the material; for example, in stretching iilaments of cellulose acetate to ten times their original length of ratio oi about 3:1 can be used.

Whether or not the treatment in which the `apparatus according tothe invention is emadjustable orice;

Fig. 3 is a sectional side -elevation of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 2; Figs. 5 and 6, 7 and 8 are enlarged detailed views corresponding to Figs. 2 and 3, showing the adjustment provided by the orifice;

Figs. 9, 10 and llare similar to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 showing a modied oriilce construction; and

Figs. i2', 13, 14 and 15 are enlarged detailed views showing ythe operation and adjustment of. the orice construction shown in Figs. 9-11 Referring to Fig. l, a pressure treatingvessel I is fed with textile thread 2 by means of feed rollers ii contained in an end-box l in which pressure-air is maintained at a pressure of 1 or 2 lbs. per square inch below the pressure in the vessel i. The thread 2 leaves the v essel I by an orice in t e end-plate 5, stretching rollers 5 imparting the desired degree of stretch, e. g. l0 times.

The end-plate 5 the unstretched thread 2, and in the initial threading of the apparatus the plate Il is moved towards the plate II so that the enlarged ends of the apertures I4, I5 overlap as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thus making for easy threading and yet cutting downthe escape of pressure iluid from the vessel I.

When stretch is applied, the diameter of the thread is reduced, as shown in Fig. 7, and the sliding plate III is moved towards the stop I3 to make the small ends of the apertures I4, I5 overlap. In this way, the reduced thread again substantially fills the oriilce, to cut down the escape of pressure fluid.

Since the thread 2 entering the vessel I irom the end-box I is only stretched in its passage through the vessel, there is no change in relative areas at the inlet oriiice I5 corresponding to that at the end-plate 5 and an adjustable oriilce need not be provided there.

It necessary, other pairs of oriilces Il, I5 may be provided in the plates 1, I0 to enable several threads to be simultaneously treated (as is the case in Figs. 9-15) but where comparatively large slivers of thread 2 are to be stretched (e. g. in the manufacture of stretched iilaments intended to be cut into staple nbre) the whole capacity oi' the stretchingapparatus may be needed to deal with a single sliver. in which case a single pair oi' orices suiiices, as shown in Fig. 2.

In Figs. 9-11, an end-plate I1 bolted,to the flange 8 of the vessel I comprises three plates I9, I9, 29 forming a dovetailed slot 2I in which are a sliding plate 22 and a xed plate 23. The approaching edges of these two plates are transversely notched as shown in Fig. 12, the notches 2| being V-shaped with rounded apices. The

' notches are in register and are enabled to overlap by the faces of the plates being grooved lengthwise as shown in Fig. 13, a groove 25 of one plate registering with a rib 25. lying between -a pair Aoi' grooves 25 of the other plate. The ribs are slightly thinner than the width of the grooves.

A micrometer screw 21, fitted with pairs oi' adjustable stop nuts 29, enables the faces of the plates 22, 23 to be separated as shown in Fig. 12 for the easy positioning of a number of threads 29 in the initial threading of the apparatus. The edges may then be caused to approach until the l grooves 25 and ribs 25 mesh with each other as ping apices 30 of the notches-24.

shown in Fig. 14, the threads 29 then substantially lling the orifices formed by the overlap- When stretching has reduced the cross-section of the threads 29, the plates 22, 23 are moved to bring the grooves 25 and ribs 26 deeper into mesh, as shown in Fig. 15, until the threads again substantially dll the now smaller orifices.

With both the unstretched and the stretched threads, relatively little free space is left for the escape of pressure uid, and this escape is furis shown in detail in Figs. g5 Ither restricted by the labyrinth structure 'formed by the intermeshing grooves and ribs. As will be seen from Fig. 13, any fluid escaping past the thread near the opposed faces of any pair of ribs 26 (i. e. a rib of the plate 22 and a rib of the plate 23) expands into a chamber 3|, and escape from any one chamber can only be by a similar expansion into the next chamber, and so on through the whole thickness of the plates 22, 23. As explained in U. S. Patent No. 2,228,272, dated January 14, 1941, such an arrangement results in a much reduced flow of Huid from the vessel I.

Having described our invention what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An orifice device for the passage of textile materials through a wall of a treatment vessel, comprising two members having surfaces overlapping each other, said members being mounted in sliding relation one to the other, closed apertures in the overlapping parts of the members, an aperture in one member overlapping an aperture in the other member, and means. for causing relative sliding movement between the members to enable the apertures to overlap each other by varying amounts, the parts of the periphery of each aperture that intersects with the periphery of the other aperture diverging from one end of the aperture to the other, and the ends of each aperture joined by said parts being similar in shape but different in size, whereby said apertures in conjunction provide an opening for textile material that may be varied in size While remaining substantially constant in shape.

2. An orifice device for the passage of textile materials through a wall of a treatment vessel, comprising two members having surfaces overlapping each other, said members being mounted inA sliding relation one to the other, pearshaped apertures in the overlapping parts of the members, the smaller end of an aperture in one member pointing in the opposite direction to that of an aperture in the other member and the apertures themselves overlapping each other, and means for causing relativey sliding movement between the members to enable the apertures to overlap each other by varying amounts and thereby to provide an opening for textile material that may be considerably varied in size while remaining substantially circular in shape.

FRANK BRENTNALL HILL.

MAITLAND WALTON ALFORD. THOMAS JACKSON. 

